Pond Magnet Foolishness

[Steveenfield]

In this podcast you doubted that a pond magnet could reduce the build-up of limescale deposits on the grounds that none of the elements affected by magnetism are responsible for the build-up of limescale. In the UK, similar systems are sold to protect domestic plumbing systems from limescale build-up. The theory is that the magnetic field causes calcium carbonate ions to cluster together in the water, rather than deposit themselves on the inside of the pipework.

The magnetic fields are produced by permanent magnets or induced by passing an electric current through a wire wrapped round the pipe. Oddly enough, although there are a number of companies making and selling these devices, and many people swear by them, no-one seems to have conclusively proved they work.

I don't offer this up as a criticism of the podcast, its just FYI.

[Fnord]

Some people will believe anything, especially if they don't understand it.

Other people are referred to as Scientists.

[JoeTheJuggler]

A friend of mine once believed someone was selling her a pond pump with "no moving parts".

[Fnord]

A friend of mine once believed someone was selling her a pond pump with "no moving parts".


Author: NASA

Description: A solid state pump has been designed to pump materials without using any conventional moving parts. The pump uses acoustic radiation forces to input a momentum transfer resulting in flow of the material. It can be entirely miniaturized, does not invade the pumped environment, and is silent with no conventional vibration. NASA Tech Brief. 8.5" X 11"

Item#: N0061293

Category: Vibration Technology

Type: Pamphlet

Pages: 13

Price: $1.45

...

Pump, Patent no.1,730,337, by Toribio Bellocq, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Application filed August 30, 1928. Apparently, this pump exploits the acoustic resonance of a column of water inside the pump shaft to draw water up the shaft. I'll post more when I find it.

-Fnord-


Link: Venturi Pump (http://www.plcsusa.com/add_prod/w_pump/w_pump.php)

[Soapy Sam]

While it does not seem unreasonable that a sufficiently strong applied magnetic field should have some effect on charged particles flowing through a pipe, I have yet to see any study showing reduced deposition of limescale associated with fixed magnets.
It seems to me that nay effect reducing the solubility of carbonate ion , or increasing a tendendy to aggregate would actually increase limescale formation.
Conventional hardness treatment using sodium carbonate , softens water by removing the Calcium ion as calcium carbonate. So does boiling the water. Both methods precipitate the calcium as CaCO3. This is precisely why kettle elements scale up in high hardness areas.
In Glasgow, where water is soft, a kettle element never shows limescale build up- yet shops still stock Calgon water softener and people still waste good money on it and "swear by" it's effectiveness.

[briandunning]

A solid state pump has been designed to pump materials without using any conventional moving parts.

Someone ought to tell the submarine manufacturers about this... :)